Lily's Present
by QuillsAndWhizzbees
Summary: Harry had never told his children about his owl. Hedwig had died during the Second Wizarding War, and when he tells his youngest son and daughter, Lily is moved, and decides to do something about it. Will she choose revenge or comfort?
1. Chapter 1

**Lily's Present**

Lily Potter stepped out of her bedroom wearing a fluffy pink dressing gown and drying her wet ginger hair with a towel. She had beautiful brown eyes, and looked remarkably like her mother. Lily was eleven years old and looking forward to the end of the summer holidays: she'd get to start her new school!

She walked down the stairs and into the sitting room where her father was talking to her older brother, Albus.

"What are you two talking about?" she asked, smiling.

"Oh, Dad's just telling me about his old owl, Hedwig, she…" he faltered, "She died."

"That's awful!" Lily looked to her father and noticed tears in his eyes. She ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck, "I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright," he hugged her back, "it was a long time ago, but she was the most beautiful bird you could possibly imagine! Her feathers were whiter than snow and she had amazing amber eyes."

Lily gently pulled away, looking nervous, "How…how did she die?" She looked down, hoping she hadn't upset her dad.

"Do you remember Hagrid, Lily?"

Lily nodded. She'd met him on a few occasions.

"During the Second Wizarding War, ten years ago, Hagrid was trying to take Hedwig and me to safety. Death Eaters, Voldemort's followers, were chasing us and one cast a curse that hit Hagrid's bike. Hedwig's cage came out from beneath my feet-" Lily gasped, "but I caught it just in time. As I was lifting her back in, a Death Eater aimed a killing curse at me…but it missed and…and it hit Hedwig." Tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Dad-"

"Look, honey, it's fine. Now you should be getting off to bed. And you Albus."

Albus rolled his eyes, "Night, Dad."

"Goodnight." His father laughed.

"I love you, Dad." Lily kissed him on the cheek.

"And I love you too, Lily." He smiled, "See you in the morning!"

Lily slowly walked to her room, her mind filled with determination.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, Lily woke up extremely early. She dressed, picked up a quill and some parchment and scribbled out a note:

Dad,

Gone to Diagon Alley to meet Hugo. I'll be home before lunch.

Lily x

They lived ten minutes away from the magical street so Lily set off at once. When she reached the Leaky Cauldron, she asked the barman to open the gateway.

"Sure little lady," he tapped the wall several times before it opened out into the most amazing place you'd ever seen. There were wand shops, book shops, enchanted food shops, jokes shops, but the one Lily wanted was the pet shop.

She read the sign: - Eeylops Owl Emporium - Screech, Tawny, Brown, Barn and Snowy. Perfect! She stepped in and approached the lady at the counter.

"How may I help you, miss?"

"Do you remember when Harry Potter visited this shop for the first time?"

"Why, yes, of course I do. Very famous, he is."

"Well, I'm his daughter and-" The woman sniffed but Lily continued, "and I need your help. He came in here and bought a snowy owl, didn't he?"

"Yes…yes, I believe he named it Hedwig or-"

"That's the one!" The young girl grinned.

"Let me just find the register for that year…" She was a very untidy woman; bits of paper were strewn across the desk, "Aha! Here we go… She was part of a snowy owl family. In fact, they're in the back room, with the rest of the owls. And I…" The woman was still talking but Lily could not hear, because she'd left the room.

A few minutes later, the woman returned with a large cage containing two sleeping owls, each one's head under its wing. "The owl your father took had just had these two, a week before he bought her."

Lily was beaming, "I'll take both!"

"That will be ten galleons please."

Lily searched her purse and brought out ten gold coins, "Thank you so much!" She picked up the cage and skipped back to the Leaky Cauldron.

Thanking the barman, she stepped back into the Muggle world.

By the time she was home, it was almost midday. The ginger girl snuck in and hid the owls behind her back, "Dad, I'm back! Come down, I have something to show you!"

She heard her father's footsteps thundering down the stairs, as he always did.

He entered, looking suspicious, "What is it?"

"Close your eyes."

Harry did as his daughter told him. Cold metal brushed his arm.

"Open."

"Oh…my…It can't be! These birds they…they look just like…like Hedwig."

"Dad, these are her children. She had them just a week before you bought her-" she stopped when she saw the tears in his eyes, "I'm so stupid, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done it-"

"No…no, they're amazing! Thank you, Lily." He hugged her tight, and then pulled away, "So, how did you find them?"

"It was easy! I just asked the lady at Eeylops. Now which one do you want?"

Harry's eyes widened, "Are you being serious?" His smile spread from ear to ear.

"Of course I am!"

"You choose first. You can take it to school with you, remember." Harry pulled out a handful of gold coins and placed them in Lily's hand. She tried to give them back but he refused, "No, take them; I'd have bought you a pet anyway. I'll _never_ be able to repay you for this!"

Lily gently removed the biggest owl and put it in Harry's hands, "Oh, I forgot, I don't have a spare cage!" She felt stupid for not asking the lady for another one.

"Don't worry, I kept Hedwig's." Nothing could ruin his mood as he stroked his new bird.

"The woman said that that one-" she gestured to Harry's owl, "is a girl, and mine is a boy."

"I just don't know how to thank you enough!" Harry's owl nipped his finger affectionately, "I think I'll call her…Arega."

Lily liked the name, "This is Artemal, Arty for short." They both chuckled.

This was a moment Harry would treasure forever…


End file.
